1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for applying a light-shield member to a photosensitive member, and more particularly to a method of and an apparatus for applying a light-shield member to a photosensitive member by delivering the light-shield member in a direction perpendicular to the photosensitive member, which is of the type to be loaded in a bright room, joining an end of the light-shield member to an end of the photosensitive member, and thereafter winding the light-shield member on an outermost layer of the photosensitive member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some photosensitive products comprise a photosensitive member, which is of the type to be loaded into an exposure device in a bright room, and a light-shield member such as a light-shield film wound on an outermost layer of the photosensitive member.
For packaging a photosensitive member with a light-shield member, it has heretofore been customary to take out the light-shield member, cut off the light-shield member into predetermined dimensions, deliver and position the severed light-shield member with respect to the photosensitive member, cut off ends of the light-shield member and the photosensitive member, hold them in abutment against each other, and join the abutting ends to each other. In the packaging process, the light-shield member is supplied to the end of the photosensitive member in a longitudinal direction thereof. It is necessary to remove any debris cut off from the light-shield member and the photosensitive member. For carrying out the packaging process, therefore, various different technologies are required. For example, these various different technologies include, among others, (a) the delivering and positioning of the light-shield member, (b) the cutting off of the light-shield member into predetermined dimensions, (c) the joining of the light-shield member and the photosensitive member to each other, and (d) the processing of debris cut off from the light-shield member and the photosensitive member.
Conventional arrangements for performing (a) the delivering and positioning of the light-shield member are disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publications Nos. 59-219198, 1-256459, and 5-338877. These publications disclose that a sheet-like member is delivered by a belt conveyor and stopped and positioned by pins and nip rollers. If the light-shield member is in the form of a web, typically a light-shield film whose surface a low coefficient of friction and which is of low rigidity, then it is difficult to deliver the web with a belt conveyor and stop and position the web with pins and nip rollers.
Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 9-43781 reveals a known technique for carrying out (b) the cutting off of the light-shield member into predetermined dimensions. Generally, it is known to prepare light-shield members of different widths for use with photosensitive members of different widths, in relation to the cutting off of the light-shield member into predetermined dimensions. The preparation of light-shield members of different widths is necessary because a light-shield member and a photosensitive member have to be of the same width in order to hold their ends in abutment against each other and join them to each other. For a given photosensitive member, therefore, a light-shield member whose width matches the width of the given photosensitive member needs to be selected from the prepared light-shield members and then to replace any existing light-shield member. If there are many available photosensitive members of different widths, then it is highly tedious and time-consuming to select a matching light-shield member and replace any existing light-shield member with the selected light-shield member. Furthermore, a material loss tends to be large due to debris produced when light-shield members are cut off.
Prior processes for abutting and joining ends of a light-shield member and a photosensitive member to each other, in connection with the above process (c), are known from Japanese laid-open patent publications Nos. 54-91676 and 60-48858. According to the known processes, an end of a light-shield member having a predetermined width is positioned in abutment against an end of a photosensitive member, and then the abutting ends are joined to each other. However, these processes are disadvantageous in that when the light-shield member and the photosensitive member are delivered to a joining mechanism, they are liable to be displaced out of a desired joining position and cannot well be joined to each other.
FIGS. 15 through 17 of the accompanying drawings show unwanted joined states resulting from the above processes. FIG. 15 illustrates the manner in which a light-shield member "a" supplied from its blank roll is positioned obliquely with respect to a photosensitive member "b" and joined to the photosensitive member "b" by a joining tape "c". FIG. 16 illustrates the manner in which a light-shield member "a" is transversely displaced out of alignment with a photosensitive member "b" due to poor positioning accuracy, and joined to the photosensitive member "b" by a joining tape "c". FIG. 17 illustrates the manner in which a light-shield member "a" that is narrower than a photosensitive member "b" is joined to the photosensitive member "b" by a joining tape "c".
The joined states shown in FIGS. 15 through 17 may happen at the same time to cause a combined joining failure. Any of the undesired joined states shown in FIGS. 15 through 17 should be avoided because they will impair the light shielding capability for the photosensitive member "b".
As the process of carrying out (d) the processing of debris cut off from the light-shield member and the photosensitive member, a process of automatically discharging debris using a belt conveyor or an air chute is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 7-266291. The disclosed process is effective in discharging debris produced from highly rigid corrugated board or small-size punched debris. However, this process is not suitable for processing less rigid debris from a light-shield film, for example, and pieces of debris having different sizes, and fails to discharge debris from below members that are joined to each other.